Hundreds of people participated in a walkout Friday afternoon to protest increased immigration enforcement activity across the United States. 

Several student organizations planned the walkout, including Students for Socialism, the Student Labor Advocacy Project and Improving Dreams, Equity, and Access at UCLA. Protesters gathered in Bruin Plaza at 2 p.m. to listen to speeches from student leaders. 

Organizers stood in front of a banner reading, “Money for jobs and education, not for ICE and deportation.” Attendees carried signs reading, “Stop ICE Terror” and chanted, “Si, se puede!” 

“This is not just a mass deportation,” one speaker said. “This is the culling of an entire community.”

Demonstrators marched up Bruin Walk to Murphy Hall at about 2:50 p.m. The group walked down Janss Steps at about 3 p.m, then past the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center to Pauley Pavilion. 

They completed the loop and returned to Bruin Plaza at 3:20 p.m. 

The Friday walkout was part of a national economic shutdown movement against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with demonstrations held across Los Angeles and the country. The national shutdown protest came after federal agents shot and killed three U.S. citizens – Renée Good, Keith Porter Jr. and Alex Pretti – in the past month.

The Trump administration cracked down on immigration enforcement in LA in June, arresting more than 10,000 people as of Dec. 11, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

Karla Alfaro, a third-year philosophy student, said she participated in the protest because she was afraid for her undocumented family members’ safety amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. It was inspiring to see other students stand up against ICE, she added.

“There’s a possibility that their (people with undocumented family members) family could be torn apart, which is a drastic change, life-changing,” Alfaro said.

A group of students from University High School Charter, a school in West LA, joined the UCLA group at about 2:15 p.m.

The walkout is the second to occur on campus this week. More than 1,000 people marched across campus Wednesday in a walkout planned in part by the Afrikan Student Union, Bruin Democrats and members of the Undergraduate Students Association Council to protest the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. 

[Related: Over 1,000 demonstrators join on-campus walkout to protest ICE crackdowns]

The same student organizations also held a Thursday vigil for people killed in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. 

[Related: Students gather for vigil honoring people killed by federal agents]

One speaker also demanded for the UC to divest from companies associated with the Israeli and U.S. militaries, following several years of pro-Palestine chanting at Students for Socialism rallies. The crowd chanted, “No justice, no peace, no ICE or police!”  

A group of UCPD Public Safety Aides stood on the outskirts of the rally with their bicycles throughout the demonstration. UCLA Student Affairs representatives and UCPD PSAs also followed behind the protesters as they marched. 

Grace Fulcher, a third-year psychology student and a member of Students for Socialism’s organizational committee, said the march was planned in solidarity with students at the University of Minnesota who called for a national shutdown to protest ICE activity. 

A UCLA spokesperson said the university is committed to maintaining a respectful campus environment in an emailed statement. They did not comment specifically on the protest or UCLA’s response.

Alexander Medrano, a third-year English student, said he participated in both the Wednesday and Friday walkouts because as someone of Mexican heritage with immigrant family members, he believes it is important to support his community. Wednesday and Friday were his first times attending protests, he added.

“I grew up in communities where ICE is directly hitting, … Southeast LA, and I’m glad that news is spreading to more people and they know the injustices that are going on,” he said.

Sophie Suh, a fourth-year mathematics of computation and physics student, brought a sign to the protest that said “Abolish ICE” on one side and “Fascist Trump” on the other. Suh, whose family are immigrants from South Korea, added that she does not want to live in a country where people fear for their lives, which she said is how ICE is currently making people feel. 

Three University High School Charter students were invited to speak on stage after the demonstrators finished marching. 

“Historians often say that sequels are worse than the prequels,” one high school student, who did not give their name, said in their speech. “It is in our hands to make sure we fight for what is rightfully ours.”